SECO/WARWICK received an order for a three-chamber vacuum furnace from a global manufacturer of automotive components. It will be the first furnace utilizing low-pressure carburizing (LPC) technology for the Indian company. It was chosen to solve a problem with intergranular oxidation present in the company’s traditional atmosphere heat-treat furnaces. The LPC furnace will be dedicated to small and large gear, pinion and other types of automotive gears.

Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. received the final acceptance certificate from Indian steelmaker SAIL for a roller-hearth plate quench-and-temper system. It is designed to heat treat a wide range of plates from 0.25-4.0 inches (6-100 mm) thick x 118 inches (3,000 mm) wide up to 42.5 feet (13 meters) long in a variety of grades for commercial and non-commercial applications. With an overall line length of 400 feet (122 meters) and a restrained roller spray quench at the heart of the system, the heat-treatment process results in true flat plates with metallurgical properties that exceed contractual requirements. The auto-recuperative radiant-tube-fired atmosphere roller-hearth hardening furnace and direct-fired temper furnace run off coke-oven gas (COG), a byproduct of the steelmaking process. 

Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems shipped a custom-built atmosphere tempering furnace to a manufacturer in the aerospace market with captive heat-treating capabilities. With a work-load size of 84 inches wide x 42 inches deep x and 60 inches tall, coupled with a maximum load weight of 6,000 pounds, the furnace is specifically designed for the company’s manufactured components. The electrically heated furnace has an operating temperature range of 350-1600°F and passes uniformity at +/-10°F per AMS 2750E. The system is equipped with Eurotherm temperature-controlling instrumentation and an Allen-Bradley PLC and HMI. 

L&L Special Furnace Co. Inc. manufactured and supplied a high-uniformity, pit-style furnace used for annealing to a manufacturer of aerospace fasteners. The annealing process occurs when the parts are evenly heated to 1400°F (760°C) and held for a predetermined amount of time. Temperature uniformity is critical to this process, and both ambient and load temperature must maintain ±10°F throughout the cycle. The fastener parts are placed in baskets and loaded by an overhead crane into the furnace. There are guide bars to ensure that the load is centered and cannot damage the furnace liner. The program or recipe is entered into the program control, and the cycle is started. At the completion of the cycle, the parts are removed and are ready for inspection and shipment.

Nitrex, a Novacap portfolio company and a global provider of fully integrated heat-treating solutions and technologies, unveiled a new corporate brand identity. A new logo will be adopted by all the Nitrex business units. For now, the names of the legal entities will not change so customers, suppliers and stakeholders can continue to use the existing names and addresses in all official communication. The new wordmark for United Process Controls leverages its well-known trade name, the UPC initials, in combination with the company’s best-known brand asset, Marathon Monitors, to form UPC-Marathon. G-M Enterprises, the newest addition to the Nitrex Turnkey Systems portfolio, traded its metallic graphic for a single-color wordmark using the same typeface as the other logos with the addition of the tagline, “A Nitrex Company.”

To support an increasing demand for high-value gas nitriding, Solar Atmospheres in Souderton Pa., installed a vacuum gas-nitriding furnace. Built by sister company Solar Manufacturing, the front-loading furnace incorporates the latest nitriding and recipe system from the furnace manufacturer. The automated controls meet AMS 2759/10, Automated Gaseous Nitriding Controlled by Nitrogen Potential, in addition to the standard AMS 2759/6, Gaseous Nitriding of Low-Alloy Steel Parts. The automated control system is useful for single-stage and two-stage (Floe) processing. All hot-zone components are made completely of graphitic materials inert to the anhydrous ammonia used during the nitriding process.

The father of the endothermic gas generator was a gentleman by the name of Norbert K. Koebel, who was fond of saying to young engineers such as The Doctor, “Treat ‘em right and they’ll treat you right.”

OAO Belaz, a Belarusian dump-truck manufacturer ordered an electric roller furnace for the heat treatment of large bearing rings. The furnace is designed to heat treat bearing rings with a diameter of 980-1,180 mm. These rings are used in the production of dump trucks used in the mining industry. The entire line, which will be supplied by SECO/WARWICK, includes: a transport system with a set of manipulators, an electric roller furnace, a hardening press with matrix instrumentation and a control system with data visualization and archiving.

Bodycote will open a new heat-treatment facility in Elgin, Ill. The purpose-built facility, which is scheduled to be operational in June 2020, has been designed as a replacement for Bodycote’s aging plant in Melrose Park, Ill. It will support manufacturing supply chains in the Midwest region. The Melrose Park facility will be closed once the transfer of customers’ work has been completed. According to Bodycote, the investment allows it to expand capacity and improve its ability to deliver high-quality heat-treatment capabilities.

Tempering occurs by heating the steel to below its critical temperature in order to transform the metastable body-centered tetragonal martensite structure that is formed during quenching into a more stable structure of fine carbide particles.